Designed to introduce entering students to aspects of culture in Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia by analyzing the complex processes which define "culture" and "ethnicity" in the areas where "West meets East." Topics vary according to the interests of the instructors. Whatever their subject matter, first-year seminars emphasize critical thinking through class discussions and thorough practice in introductory composition.

Credits:

4

Requirements & Distribution:

FYWR

Other:

FYSem

Waitlist Capacity:

10

Consent:

With permission of instructor.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Enrollment restricted to first-year students, including those with sophomore standing.

How does a literary text draw us into the mind of a character who is dramatically different from both the author and the reader, yet relatable and believable? How does the world seen through that mind compare to our own? Narratology, or the study of narrative structure, considers the devices writers use to manipulate how we perceive the worlds represented in words. In this seminar, we will examine especially striking instances of this manipulation: novels, poems, and essays in which a rational, calculating author convinces us that we are seeing the world through the eyes of an intoxicated speaker. Intoxication has been and remains a useful tool for authors looking to shake the reliability of their narrative, providing both a social context and a cognitive (or cognitively impaired) model for doing so, and in Russian, Polish, and Czech literatures it has been employed to powerful effect in the service of cultural and political critiques. We will probe these texts for clues about how writers use intoxication to heighten the comedy of basically tragic stories. We will also discuss the unrestrained commentaries these writers provide on national habits, social and cultural shortcomings, and personal dreams. Readings will include dazzling works by Bohumil Hrabal, Venedikt Erofeev, Jerzy Pilch, Dorota Masłowska, and others, as well as major contributions to narrative theory.

Syllabi are available to current LSA students. IMPORTANT: These syllabi are provided to give students a general idea about the courses, as offered by LSA departments and programs in prior academic terms. The syllabi do not necessarily reflect the assignments, sequence of course materials, and/or course expectations that the faculty and departments/programs have for these same courses in the current and/or future terms.